Lynn Serhan
2026 Election Candidate
Environmental
In Enderby's Official Community Plan, "agricultural land, green space, and open natural areas are valued and preserved within the community by promoting higher density and clustered development". Please give local examples of 'good' and 'not good' building development in Enderby, and state why.
Downtown revitalization improves community aesthetic and economic growth
Housing diversity and seniors' support helps the community accommodate downsizes and a growing demographic.
Not good lack of public consultation and discontent can spark resident friction debates on municipal priorities. Pressure on infrastructure and traffic impacts can lead to traffic congestion and strain. Agricultural and rural overbuilding risk fragmenting productive land and reducing long term agricultural viability.
Enderby has experienced significant climate impacts for the last few years. How do you propose to address this crisis, both in preparing ahead for disasters like drought, wildfires, heat domes and floods, as well as reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that lead to climate change?
Implement fire smart BC planning guidelines
There needs to be focuses on upgrading local infrastructure to withstand extreme events implementing strict fire and flood protections and accelerating clean energy transitions in both the building and transportation sectors
Do you support the use of public funds to contribute to acquiring natural lands for environmental conservation purposes? Under what conditions would the perceived need for more housing, businesses, roads and other infrastructure prompt you to trade away natural lands with high ecological value for urban expansion?
Do we allocated public funds to conserving natural lands, and when do we permit urban expansion on ecologically value terrain, this is balancing environmental sustainability fiscal responsibility and community growth. There needs to be consideration for the ecosystem climate resilience and public health and well-being all of these need to be addressed before I could agree to allocating public funds to acquiring natural lands for environmental purposes.
Drought, contamination, increasing demand are just some of the water issues we face in Enderby. What actions would you prioritise to protect our river, creeks, aquifers, and groundwater for home and agricultural water sources, habitat for fish and wildlife, and human recreation?
1) protect water quality and prevent contamination (multi-barrier approach)
2) manage supply demands and mitigate drought
3)safeguard fish and wildlife habitats
4)ensure safe human recreation
Social
In smaller communities, we need to be creative in how we help one another; how do you see the role of local government in this?
Local government cannot always rely on the massive budget or specialized departments found in major cities. Because of this it's most effective role is to act as a chief facilitator community connecter and regulatory partner removing barriers, so that residence, nonprofits and local businesses can easily step up to help one another.
1) act as a community matchmaker and resource hub
2) streamline regulations and cutting red tape
3) convening "coordinated volunteerism" for emergencies
4) maximizing grants through regional collaboration
How do we tackle misinformation and growing distrust in local government as well as uncivil behaviour on social media and in person?
This requires a deliberate shift from standard corporate messaging towards proactive transparency and clear behavioural boundaries a tight community. The goal is not to police speech, but rather to construct an undeniable repository of factual truth and lower the communities overall friction.
What personal and/or professional experience has most shaped your understanding of Truth and Reconciliation, and how would it influence your decisions as a municipal elected official?
I am Cree Metis My mother comes from Meadow Lake. I am learning about my culture and truth and reconciliation is listening to the stories and educating ourselves. Municipal decision-making in BC is increasingly guided by the Provincial declaration of the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous people's act.(DRIPA). For an elected official this means that recognizing reconciliation is not merely symbolic, but a structural obligation to align local bylaws, official community plans, and land-use decisions with indigenous rights, particularly regarding heritage sites, environmental stewardship, and archaeology.
Cultural
How do you personally engage with arts, culture and heritage in Enderby, and how do you think local government should support these features of our community?
The Splatsin (Secwepemc) heritage and the historic architecture to the thriving local arts scene centered around the courtyard gallery and the Enderby drill hall and the Shuswap river
1) local governments have a direct hand in shaping the physical environment. They can use this power to make art and heritage and natural part of every everyday life
2) true, cultural preservation, requires meaningful active collaboration with the original caretakers of the land.
3) art, and Heritage need physical homes to survive, but nonprofit groups often struggle with high real estate and maintenance cost.
4) smaller municipalities rarely have the tax base to directly fund, massive arts grants, but they possess the institutional leverage to unlock external funding.
Economic
What is your understanding of how small local governments can support our economic development, including the success of our small local businesses?
Small local governments are uniquely positioned to drive economic development because they cultivate a supportive friction free ecosystem where existing local businesses can grow adapt and keep wealth circulating locally
What is one action the municipality should take to strengthen our local food system and improve access to healthy, affordable food? Why that action?
The municipality should provide direct structural and utility support to expand community-led agricultural networks, such as newly forming community garden at M.V. Beattie Elementary.
Why this action it removes the primary financial barrier for local growers, creates a direct pipeline for food, security non-profit, and maximizes the productivity of underutilized land.
Health
As Mayor / Councilor, how would you work to attract and retain medical professionals in Enderby?
Need to focus on three strategic areas: housing infrastructure, persistent provincial advocacy, and community integration.
How will you ensure that our planning of our built environment, our programs and our policies support the diverse physical and mental health needs of our population?
To ensure that Enderby's built environment, civic programs, and municipal policies proactively support the physical and mental health of our diverse community, local government must adopt a Health in All Policies framework. This means evaluating every infrastructure project zoning update and budget allocation through a wellness lens-recognizing that public health is directly shaped by public space..
General
Enderby has constant traffic congestion on Hwy. 97A without a solution in sight from the Ministry of Transportation. What ideas do you have to pressure the province into finding a solution?
Need to pivot from a standard letter, reading to an aggressive data, driven, and highly collaborative pressure campaign
1) build a regional economic coalition unite, the North Okanagan Shuswap include city of Armstrong district of Sicamous, the regional district of North Okanagan and the Splatsin leadership.
2) leverage public safety and emergency data response weaponized local emergency data work with the Enderby fire department, local BC ambulance, paramedics and the RCMP to compile exact data on how gridlock delays emergency response
